The Liberia labor congress and its affiliates National Unions are calling on the Liberian Senate not to concur with the House of Representatives on the amendment made in the decent work act especially chapter 37 which talks about Recognition and organizational Rights of Registered Trade Unions.
The House of Representatives recently amended chapter 22, 30, and 37 of the Decent Work Act as well as article 21b, 30b and 30.2a following a communication written in June of this year by Margibi County district one Representative Tibelrosa Summoh Tarponweh craved the indulgence of his colleagues to amend sections 22.1, 30b, 30.2a, and chapters 22, 30 and 37 of the Decent Work Act to allow workers transitioning to retirement from their various workplaces receive their just benefits from their employers.
Chapter 37.1a states that; A registered trade union that represents the majority of the employees in an appropriate bargaining unit is entitled to recognition as the exclusive bargaining agent of the employees in that bargaining unit for the purpose of negotiating a collective agreement on any matter of mutual interest.
b) An employer or employers’ organization shall not recognize a trade union as an exclusive bargaining agent under this Act unless i) the trade union (1) is registered under this Act; and (2) represents the majority of the employees in the bargaining unit; or ii) the Minister, under paragraph i), declares the trade union to be so recognized. c) A registered trade union may seek recognition as an exclusive bargaining agent of an appropriate bargaining unit by delivering a request, in the prescribed form, to i) an employer to recognize it as the exclusive bargaining agent of a bargaining unit consisting of its employees or some of its employees; or ii) an employers’ organization to recognize it as the exclusive bargaining agent of a bargaining unit consisting of the employees of its members. d) The trade union concerned shall submit to the Ministry i) a copy of its request under paragraph c); ii) proof that the request has been served on the employer or employers’ organization.
Representative Tarponweh also stressed that a worker’s union that is part of a workforce and duly registered must be represented at a bargaining table but not an outside union called “mother union”, citing Section 37.1 of the Decent Work Act.
The Margibi lawmaker said since the passage of the act, concessionaires have been reneging to honor their obligations to directly pay retirement benefits to their retired workers, using chapter 22.1 as a reliance, something he said has triggered lot of contentions and contradictions.
Chapter 22.1 states that: “Social Welfare does not apply to an employer who is or who becomes: a) Required to fulfill a comparable obligation under a pension scheme administered by the National Social Security and Welfare Corporation (NASSCORP) under the National Social Security and Welfare Law as amended; and b) Registered with NASSCORP; and c) Compliant with their obligations under regulations relating to a pension scheme administered by NASSCORP.”
But In separate remarks, at news conference Monday December 20, 2021, Senior Trade Union Officials in the Country said amending portion of the laws should have been done in consultation with the various stakeholders, including the tripartite parties of government, employers and Trade Union Organizations.
They added that amending chapter 37 of the decent work act will only put Liberian workers at the mercy of their employers and limit their strength to freely bargain with their employers.
According to them the Houses decision to amend chapter 37 of the Decent Work Act, is an attempt to empower local trade union representation over National Trade Unions Representation, something they termed as an affront to the crafter the of Decent Work Act.
The Trade Union groups noted that it was frustrating for Representative Tarponweh to use Firestone Liberia as reason for the amendment of portion of the Decent Work Act when he is fully aware that it was because Firestone that such chapter was written in the law.
The Trade Union Executives noted that that amendment of the law undermines International Trade Union standards and best practices and does not meet the will of various trade unions in the country.
